Artificial tooth.



C. C. BEEBE.

ARTIFICIAL TOOTH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. a. 1915.

Patented Jan, 16,

connai. o. vanima, ornacrn'n, wisconsin.

i -A "rrrrcrarf Toorn.

raiaaaa.

To all when?, t may concern.;

Be it known that ll, CoLnwnLr. GBnnBn,

a citizen Aof the United States, and resident of Racine, in the county of Racine. and State of Wisconsin, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Artificial Teeth; and ll do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof.v

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in artificial teeth and is particularly directed to the provision of means for attaching porcelain facings of artificial teeth in a manner whereby they may be detached and replaced upon becoming broken or for any other desired reason.

A common disadvantage in the method .of attaching porcelain facings is that such methods of attachment as have been heretofore employed have a tendency to vchip or break the facings. f

llt is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a 'means for attaching porcelain facings whereby vthe tendency to breakage of said facings is lessened by providing a firm seat for said facings on the backing.

With the above and other objectsfand ad. vantages in view, the invention resides more particularly in the .novel combination, ar-

rangement and formation of parts more par-- ticularly hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the appended'claims.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings wherein similar characters of reference designate ,corresponding parts,

throughouttheseveral views and in' which: Figurel shows a front elevational View 'of the improved facing and backing members connected with a crown cap member and attached'to the natural root of a tooth.; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of what is shown in lFig. l; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation; lFig. 4 is a vertical sectional Vview taken-l centrally thereof; Fig. 7 is a frontelevation of theimi proved backing member ',jllig. 8 is a detailed sectional view showing the cap inembcnof the crown; Flg. 9 is a top plan view of a modified form of backing member provided F ig. 9.

Referring now Vmore particularly to the accompanying drawings, 5 designates in the l peotncatilon of Letters Patent. Parlgqmltggd llamo gli@ jlnjln Application tiled September 8i, 1915. `Serial No. 49,441; I

fied backing member on the line lll-l0 of titl first four figures thereof, the natural root of v a tooth and 6 designates the crown cap mem-A l ber which is secured onto said root by the pivot pin 7 which extends into the nerve canal of the tooth andit is cemented as shown at 8. This is the usual method of attachment for articial teeth, but in the ordinary structure the backing which engages and holds rthe porcelain facing is made integral with the cap member. lln my construction however l nd it expedient to prov1de a separate backing designated in the drawings at 9, which is adapted to be welded to the'cap member after making of such cap member and which is adapted to receive the improved facing member 10.

rfaking up now the specific shape of the facing member, it includes a labial face a, a lingual face b and an inner face c which l abuts against the backing member 9 to form a member-'substantially triangular in side view. rllhe medial and distal faces of the facing member are provided with longitudinal grooves 1l which taperingly increase in depth and vsize toward the face c, the adjacent sides of said grooves being substantially parallel to the labial face a so that by their tapering enlargement they intersect and taperingly reduce the face. The face 0 is provided adjacent its juncture with the face b ywith a transversely extending groove 12 which has its ends communicating with the grooves 11 and curved toward the juncture of `the faces a and in accordance with a `corresponding curvature of the meeting edge .of the faces t and c, this curvature being caused`by the tapering reduction of that portionA of the tooth by reason of the grooves ll.4

A lByV so curving the groove 12, it has a bearing surface 'approximately equal tothe combined bearing vsurfaces of the grooves 11 wherebystrain imparted on the tooth is equally distributed. This is an exceedingly important feature. The abutting face c is concaved transversely of the tooth. The grooves 11 terminate short of the outer corners of the side faces.

To engage the face 0 of the facing member 10, the backing member 9 is of substantially triangular side elevation and has formed at the sides of its abutting or front face d a pair of flanges 13 which projectforwardly of said face @d are provided on their inner faces with anges 14 tapered to fit in the tapered grooves 11. The front face of the backing is also providedadjacent its juncture with the lingual face with an arcuate.

rib` 15 which seats in the groove 12 of the facing, andthe front face of the backing.

is formed of convex shape to fit the-concave face c of the facing. The face e andthe medial and distal faces and flanges 13 of the backing coincide with and form continuations of the lingual face b and the medial and distal faces of the facing. The top face f of the backing is welded or otherwise se` cured to the crown cap 6.

The structure shown in Figs. 1 to 8 of the drawings is particularly adapted for use in connection with incisor teeth, it being with this type of teeth that the greatest diiculty is encountered in applying porcelain facings. For other types of teeth, the

, same general structure is applied except that more opportunity is had and taken advan tage of to increase the size of the grooves whereby greatly lessened liability of said grooves causing the facing to chip may bel had. l

Figs. 9 and l0 show afurther modifica# tion of the backing member. In this form of the invention, the body of the backing member is made narrower, and the flanges 13 of the backing members heretofore shown carry ribs 14 which extend parallel to the inner face d of thebackng, so that they are projected forwardly of the backing and, be-

ing converged, may carry a correspondin ly formed facing member of greater wi th than the usual facing member and which is adapted to project forwardly ast the backing member so that none o the baclng member is exposed at the front ofthe tooth. To facilitate securing this backing member to the crown cap, the upper edge portions of the rear face e and the side faces are oifset inwardly and at the lower edge of these inwardly offset portions is formed a horizontal continuous groove 19 in said rear and side faces. In tentatively applyin the backing member to the crown cap to fetermine its, proper position to hold the facing '.member 1n proper ahnement with the other of the rear and side faces are adapted to hold wax which forms the temporary securing means, and in permanently securing the backing to the cap, fused gold or other securing medium is disposed in the groove and over the inwardly offset portion of the faces whereby the backing member may be securely attached to the crown cap member. Although the grooves 19 and the offset portions of 'the lin al and the medial and distal faces are s own as applied to a certain modied form of backing member, it will be appreciated that this structure may be readily associated with any other form of the invention, includin the preferred form shown more particular y in 1 to7 inclusive of the drawings.

In assembling and applying the structure described to the natural root of a tooth, the cap member 6 is made by the dentist in the usual manner to properly fit the root. The backing member 9 is then fused onto the cap member and the porcelain facing is celmented in place on the backing. 'By the particular arrangement of applicants face c and the grooves 11 and 12, it is seen that a maximum amount of bearing surface is had between the facing and the backing without excessively weakening the facing or tending to produce a chipping of portions thereof.v This increased bearing face greatly facilitates cementing the facmg in place. Should the facing be broken, it can be readily removed by forcin loose the cement connection and a new acing may be applied without disturbing the attachment of the backing to the crown cap.

I claim:

1. An articial tooth comprising a facing member and a bacln'ng member havin meeting faces intersecting thelabial and ngual faces and disposed at an acute angle to the base face of the tooth, the facing member being provided in its medial and distal faces with grooves extending toward and taperingly enlarged toward the base face and being further provided in said base face rear wardly of the said grooves with a transverse groove having its sides extended laterally in the medial and distal faces and having itsbottom curved whereby the bearing surface of the transverse groove approximates the combined bearing faces of the medial and distal face grooves, and portions carried by the backing member to engage in said grooves whereby strain incident to 1ongitudlnal pressure on the tooth, is equally distributed in the transverse groove and in the medial and distal grooves.

2. As an article of manufacture, a backing member having its top face adapted for securement to a. crown cap member, the adjacent portions of its labial and its medial and distal faces being inwardly offset and provided with n curved horizontal groove in the county of Milwaukee, anni State of forming andunder `utkin said (o'setb face Wisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses. portlons an said ac ing mem er eing, formed for attachmentof n facing member CLDVVELL C BERRE' thereto. Witnesses:

In testimony that claim the foregoing GEO. W. YOUNG, have hereunto set my hand at Milwaukee, M. E. DOWNEY. 

